Between the mugs of hot cocoa, twinkly lights, and presents piled under the Christmas tree, it’s no wonder the holidays are considered the happiest time of the year! But of course, with the holidays comes time off school, and even if you enroll your kiddos in fun-filled winter break camps, they’ll still need some entertainment leading up to Christmas morning.
To help keep your little ones occupied until Santa comes down the chimney, we’ve gathered 15 of our favorite Christmas crafts for kids of all ages. These inexpensive and easy Christmas crafts will get your whole family in the holiday spirit as your kids spend hours crafting away.
It’s time for some holiday fun, so put on a family Christmas movie in the background, gather your supplies, and enjoy these magical Christmas craft ideas!
1. Santa Face
For this DIY Christmas craft, your kids can make a portrait of jolly ol’ Saint Nick! To start, cut a piece of red construction paper in the shape of a hat and then glue it to the top of a paper plate, which will serve as Santa’s face. From here, your kids can draw Santa’s face and glue on cotton balls to create his famous beard and decorate his hat.
2. 3-D Snowmen
If you have leftover cotton balls and construction paper after completing the easy Christmas craft above, then it’s time to build snowmen! Simply lay out some construction paper and invite your kids to draw a snowy landscape with snowmen made of cotton balls. They’ll have a blast pasting cotton balls to make snowmen of all sizes and adding on decorations like buttons and top hats.
3. Reindeer Hands
For this simple Christmas craft idea, help your kids trace their hands on brown construction paper and then cut out the shapes. With the fingers facing downward, the cutout will transform into a reindeer with the thumb as the face and fingers as the legs. Your kids can then draw on eyes and a mouth, add a red nose, and even glue on pipe cleaners for antlers to create the cutest reindeer in all the land.
4. Christmas Tree Hands
This one’s another craft that showcases your children’s hands, but instead of making a reindeer, you’ll help them create a Christmas tree. Trace several versions of their hands on green construction paper, cut them out, and then arrange the paper hands so they fan out like the branches on a Christmas tree. Glue the tree on construction paper and let your kids draw on ornaments, decorations, and lights.
5. Christmas Tree Ornaments
The best Christmas crafts for kids are the ones that you can use as decorations! To create this easy design, glue three popsicle sticks together in a triangle to form a Christmas tree and add one to the bottom to create the tree trunk. From here, your kiddos can glue on green yarn, pom poms, and glitter to create tree branches and Christmas decorations. After they’ve completed their designs, they’ll love hanging them on their real Christmas tree!
6. Snowflake Ornaments
For even more popsicle stick ornament fun, make these snowflake creations. It’s easy—glue five popsicle sticks together like a snowflake, and then have your kids go wild with all the glitter and sparkle decorations. Once the crafts are dry, be sure to add them to your own Christmas tree.
7. Hot Cocoa Jars
Want to make DIY Christmas crafts that you can give as gifts? Then add this one to your list! Start by letting your kiddos decorate the outside of a mason jar. Next, help them carefully layer in all the ingredients for a tasty cup of hot chocolate, including cocoa mix, marshmallows, chocolate chips, and maybe even some peppermint pieces. Then, simply seal the jar, add a gift tag, and give it to someone special.
8. Pine Cone Christmas Trees
Gather some pine cones from outside for this lovely DIY Christmas craft. Once you have a collection of pine cones, gather your kids around to paint them green to transform them into mini Christmas trees. Then, your kids can decorate them to their hearts’ content with pom poms, glitter, star cutouts, and more.
9. Dried Macaroni Photo Frames
It’s time to make festive photo frames! Have your children glue dried macaroni pasta onto construction paper, leaving space in the middle for a photo, and then spray paint it all gold. After it dries, help your kids glue a photo of themselves onto the design, and voila—you have a dazzling homemade photo frame to treasure for years to come.
10. Lightbulb Reindeer Ornaments
Purchase some colorful vintage-style Christmas light bulbs and transform them into reindeer faces! For this easy Christmas craft, your kids can glue pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and red pom poms onto light bulbs to make Rudolph the Reindeer ornaments for your Christmas tree.
11. Paper Snowflakes
It doesn’t get much easier than this Christmas craft for kids. All you need is some white paper and scissors to create the most enchanting snowflakes for decorating your home for the holidays. To do so, fold the paper diagonally several times, cut out little snippets, and then unfold it to reveal a unique snowflake design every time!
12. Snowman Cupcakes
Head into the kitchen for this fun and tasty craft as you and your crew bake snowman cupcakes. Start by whipping up your family’s favorite cupcake recipe. Once the cupcakes have cooled, sprinkle shredded coconut (or vanilla frosting) onto the tops of each to create the snow, and use black icing for the snowman’s eyes and mouth and orange icing for his carrot nose.
13. Pipe Cleaner Candy Canes
To make this easy Christmas craft, your little ones will bend pipe cleaners into the shape of a candy cane and then thread red and white beads to give them their swirly design. Your children can then hang their little candy canes all over their Christmas tree to give it some festive flair.
14. Paper Wreaths
Every home needs a Christmas wreath, so help your children craft one of their own. Fold a piece of green construction paper in half, cut slits along the fold, staple the open ends of the paper together to create a tunnel, and then staple the two open ends together to create the wreath’s circular shape. Now, encourage your kids to decorate the greenery with a bow, glitter, and beads.
15. Activities on Demand
For even more kid-friendly entertainment, check out our activities on demand, where you can find all sorts of DIY holiday crafts. For example, your kids can learn to draw a puppy wrapped in Christmas lights and a cat in a Christmas hat. They can also follow along to create a unicorn Christmas ornament, a snow globe, and more!